Whether It’s War Or Sports, Patriots Support USA On International Stage, Even If Megan Rapinoe Is Involved | David Hookstead

Patriotic Americans stand tall and firm with pride whenever the road uniforms come out and it’s time to take the international stage.

Right now, there is fierce debate whether or not people should support the United States national team at the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.

The argument against supporting the USWNT is pretty simple. My colleague Dan Zaksheske made the point the other day, and I respect his right to hold that opinion. The roster currently and historically the past several years has been loaded with players who hold woke views, and there’s no better example than Megan Rapinoe.

Rapinoe, who is the most famous player on the roster, has no problem with men invading women’s sports now that she’s retiring, has refused to stand for the anthem, vowed to never sing the national anthem and plays the victim card on a regular basis.

Why would anyone want to support a person like Rapinoe or any team she plays on? It’s an easy argument to understand. It’s also an easy thing to believe. After all, Rapinoe represents views many Americans find offensive and downright disgusting. It’s not hard to hate anything she’s a part of.

Patriots support America in road matchups.

Having said that, let me be crystal clear so there’s no confusion at all. Patriots support the USA and our beautiful flag on the international stage. As soon as we leave this country for any reason, citizens and those abroad must present a unified front.

Americans must stand as one on the international stage and support the flag of the greatest nation on Earth, whether it’s the beaches of Normandy, the jungles of Vietnam, the space race or a soccer stadium in New Zealand.

As soon as planes are loaded up and depart for foreign lands, the bickering and politicking comes to an immediate end. Never take your trash into another person’s house.

It’s sad to see so many Americans cheer against the USA in soccer or any other setting, and I say that as someone who wouldn’t shake Megan Rapinoe’s hand if I had the opportunity. I find her to be that shameful of a person, but you’ll find me dead before you ever find me cheering for a foreign nation.

The fact some people wanted Vietnam to beat America Friday night – the good guys won 3-0 – is absolutely absurd to me.

Never support America’s enemies over the red, white and blue.

As OutKick’s Chad Withrow pointed out, there are ancestors of the players on the Vietnam squad who killed American soldiers. In what world would anyone support a foreign team, especially one from a nation that cost the lives of more than 58,000 American heroes.

It’s really a reflection of the times we’re in. People are so fractured and angry we can’t put aside our differences for anything, including something as simple as a soccer game.

In 1980, tensions with the Soviet Union were high, the Iranian hostage crisis was underway and faith in America was quickly dwindling. Yet, when our hockey team took the ice against the Soviet Union, nobody with a functioning brain was cheering for the Russians. Granted, our hockey team wasn’t ultra-political, but the idea of ever supporting the Soviets is so crazy it’s hard to anyone’s brain to comprehend.

The USA isn’t perfect, but it’s worth believing in and supporting.

One of the reasons you’ll never see me do anything other than support the United States of America is because far too many great Americans paid a damn high price for this country.

Young farm kids were asked to liberate Europe, destroy the Japanese empire and defend freedom in WWII. For the past several hundred years, America has been a shining force for good. The USA represents the best of the best. It is personally wildly offensive to me to not support America, and that’s in-part because I know some people who have paid a price that is beyond unimaginable.

One family member was highly-decorated in WWII, returned to his life in Chicago and then was KIA’d in Korea fighting the communists. His brother fought in the Pacific Theater in WWII. He made it home, but part of his soul died in a foxhole in the Pacific. The man who deployed wasn’t the man who returned, and the price of freedom was him living with the demons of war for the rest of his life.

On Memorial Day, I remember my Uncle Connie.

He was a pilot in WWII and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross twice in the aftermath of D-Day.

He was recalled for Korea, and was shot down in 1952. Connie was never seen again.

He was 30 years old and only knew war. pic.twitter.com/tstFdmAsOd

— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) May 29, 2023

I had more family members who deployed to Vietnam – the team some Americans were rooting for Friday night – and one fought as a long range recon ranger. He did and saw things the average American couldn’t envision in the worst of their nightmares. Why did he did he go? Because his country asked him to.

America has a lot going for it.

There’s certainly plenty of examples from the GWOT, Black Hawk Down and other conflicts. When I think of American greatness I think of guys like Jeff Struecker, Brad Thomas, Dan Schilling and all the guys on the ground with them in Mogadishu. With their backs to the wall and the blood of their friends dripping out of the humvees, they loaded back up and got back out on those streets to keep fighting. There wasn’t time for politics. There was only time to do what had to be done. Do the same people who want the USWNT to lose also hope our soldiers kid their ass kicked overseas?

I certainly hope not. It’s one thing to be against a war, just like it’s okay to be against Megan Rapinoe. However, nobody should be dumb enough or foolish enough to cheer against the soldier just because they hate the war.

The USA is also the only country where people can be born into extreme poverty and die with more money than they could spend in a lifetime. My older family was born into extreme poverty. The kind of poverty that doesn’t really exist anymore. By the time my grandfather died, he definitely was no longer poor.

Why would I ever not support a country that is capable of elevating people in such fashion? Because Megan Rapinoe is a moron? I don’t think so.

Our enemies love our infighting.

Perhaps most importantly is that a fractured front represents weakness. You think the Chinese, Russians and all our other enemies don’t see the fools we make of ourselves?

Of course they do. That applies to Megan Rapinoe when she embarrasses herself by not singing the anthem or not standing for the anthem, and it EQUALLY applies to people who trash our great country and its representatives on the international stage.

Our enemies love our childish and immature infighting and they absolutely love it when we export it for the rest of the world to see. It’s one thing for siblings to argue at home, but should they ever do it as guests at a dinner party? Of course not.

Same logic. Much bigger stage.

I might think Megan Rapinoe is a clown (she is), but my disdain and dislike for her won’t ever trump my love for the country I call home or the beautiful flag that represents us all. I hope we kick ass the rest of the World Cup, and once the team gets back to America, we can get back to our regular scheduled criticism.